­­Surprise! Like a pinup girl bounding out of a birthday cake Hotel Boca Chica, part of Grupo Habita, livens up the Acapulco scene with a smile and a shimmy and more than a few tricks up her sleeve.

First opened in the 1950s, the original Hotel Boca Chica became an icon of its time before declining, then finally closing in 1997. Another legend from the fifties, Mexican architect Antonio Peleaz, was contracted to bring the shell back to life.

In another moment of authenticity, Hotel Boca Chica hired Japanese chef Keisuke Harada to update the hotel’s restaurant which was the first sushi restaurant in Acapulco when it originally opened. The current menu honors its Japanese roots with fresh...